This invention relates generally to collapsible steering columns for vehicles, and more particularly to an energy absorption device for dissipating force from a steering column to a driver in case of collision.
Requirements vary from place to place and from vehicle to vehicle as to the constraints to be applied to energy absorption systems incorporated in collapsible steering columns for vehicles. Hitherto, in addition to the difficulty of determining the required energy absorption for a given vehicle in a given country, it has been a problem to meet these requirements in a single device.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present energy absorbing steering columns. Thus, it would clearly be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.